Receiving, filleting, packing and the cold store never run at the same speed, and when packing cannot keep up the fillets pile up on the bench. A fillet is more sensitive than a whole fish: skinned, with its surface exposed, it warms and dries faster in the same room. Article 47 of the Turkish Regulation on Specific Hygiene Rules for Food of Animal Origin therefore says fillets and slices must not stay on the work table longer than preparation needs, must be packed, and must be chilled as soon as possible after preparation.
To find where the wait builds up, match lot code to receiving, filleting start, packing, cold-store transfer and dispatch times, and note the queue and the container at each station. The regulation gives no minutes, so the line derives its acceptable time from its own measurements; product temperature is recorded with sample point and method, apart from room and container air.
Let accumulated fillets wait in a closed, iced container rather than on an open bench. The regulation requires containers for unpacked prepared product to keep melt water away from the fish (Articles 47 and 50). GEBHARDT TBX Seafood has an inner tub for this: a 24-litre tub and a rear meltwater drain in the TBX 1000, and an 18-litre stainless tub as an accessory for the 725 and 795 litre sizes.
The bottleneck is the stage where product piles up. At the stage with the longest wait, change container layout, staffing sequence or packing pace, and compare the result using the same record fields.
